Postdoctoral Researcher

Medical University of South Carolina

Personal statement:

I’m a biologist with a defined scientific interest and background for the pharmacology of microtubule-targeting agents (MTAs) and their effects on both microtubule and mitochondria networks in their direct targets—cancer cells; but also their off-target tissues like neuronal cells. My ultimate goal is in identification of specific molecular mechanisms of MTAs that initiate cellular response. 

My current projects include:

• Understanding the physiological relevance of tubulin and α-synuclein interaction with mitochondrial membranes.
• Clarifying mechanisms involved in α-synuclein-mediated mitochondrial toxicity
• Identifying small molecules that would serve as VDAC pharmacological tools

Biosketch:

Dr. Rovini dedicated her Master and then her Ph.D. work to decipher the pharmacological effects of MTAs on microtubule dynamic instability and cellular processes involved in cancer progression (cell proliferation, cell migration, and mitochondrial functioning) and neurotoxicity related to the use of these compounds. She obtained her Ph.D. in Biology (Human Pathology: Oncology) from Aix-Marseille University (France) in 2012. She held her first post-doctoral position in the department of Regenerative Neurobiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN from July 2013 to July 2015, where she established a model of sensory neurons derived from human induced-pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) to specifically study chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Since July 2015 to present, Dr. Rovini is a postdoctoral fellow at the Section on Molecular Transport, Program in Physical Biology, NICHD/NIH where she combines cellular and molecular biology with biophysical approaches to study membrane proteins interaction with VDAC and their physiological relevance.